The India-U.S. defence partnership is deepening

The India-U.S. defence partnership is deepening

Context:

• This editorial analyses the evolving bilateral relationship between India and the U.S. over the years, particularly in the domain of defence partnership.

The 2+2 Dialogue in Delhi:

• The India-United States defence partnership received a major boost recently with the visit of the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. Defence Secretary Mark Esper for the third round of the 2+2 ministerial dialogue.
• Given that most ministerial engagements and even bilateral summits are taking place virtually due to travel restrictions, the fact that the U.S. Secretary of State and U.S. Defence Secretary travelled to India for the summit a week before the U.S. goes to the polls is an indication of the defence partnership between the two democracies having come of age.

Defence partnership between India-US:

1. Kicklighter proposals:

• India-U.S. defence partnership began with the end of the Cold War, through the 1991 Kicklighter proposals (Lt. Gen. Claude Kicklighter was the Army commander at the U.S. Pacific Command) which suggested the establishment of contacts between the three Services to promote exchanges and explore areas of cooperation.
• An Agreed Minute on Defence Cooperation was concluded in 1995 instituting a dialogue at the Defence Secretary level together with the setting up of a Technology Group.

2. Nuclear issue:

• The nuclear issue continued to cast a shadow on the relationship between the two countries.
• The U.S. imposed a slew of economic sanctions and led an international condemnation campaign against India after India conducted its nuclear tests in 1998.

3. Defence relationship framework:

• After extensive talks, sanctions were gradually lifted and in 2005, a 10-year Framework for Defence Relationship was established, followed by a Joint Declaration on Defence Cooperation in 2013. The Framework Agreement was renewed in 2015 for another decade.
• The Defence Relationship Framework laid out an institutional mechanism for areas of cooperation including joint exercises, intelligence exchanges, joint training for multinational operations including disaster relief and humanitarian assistance, technology transfer and a sharing of non-proliferation best practices.

4. Decisive shift:

• Breaking away from the outdated notion of India’s strategic autonomy being impacted by its closer alignment with the U.S., the biggest push to the India-US relationship has come from the current government.
• This move has been reciprocated by the following U.S. measures.
• A Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region was announced in 2015.
• The India-U.S. Strategic and Commercial Dialogue was elevated to the status of the 2+2 dialogue in 2018, reflecting the ‘Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership’ between the two countries.
• The U.S. categorised India as “a Major Defence Partner” in 2016 and formalised it through the National Defense Authorisation Act (2017).
• This is a position unique to India given that such categorization was mostly limited to its NATO allies and a few other nations.

5. Defence contracts:

• From less than $400 million of defence acquisitions till 2005, the U.S. has since signed defence contracts worth $18 billion with India.
• This marks a major shift given that India had been traditionally almost completely dependent on Russia for defence products.
• As per reports published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), India was the world’s second-largest arms importer during the period 2015-19, with Russia being the largest supplier though Russia’s share of the Indian weapons market declined from 72% to 56%. 
• Israel, the U.S. and France have substantial arms exports to India.
• India has imported Apache, Chinook and MH 60 ‘Romeo’ helicopters and P8I maritime aircraft from the US.
• The US could also sell Predator, Reaper Armed Drones to India amid rising tensions with China.
• In 2018, India was placed in Category I of the Strategic Trade Authorisation, easing exports of sensitive technologies.
• India and the US have also decided to deepen defence and security cooperation by collaborating on the co-development and production of advanced military systems along with other aspects like defence technology transfer.
• The Defence Trade and Technology Initiative (DTTI) was formed in 2012 between the US and India, to enhance the bilateral relations in defence by venturing into the field of advanced defence research and development and manufacturing.
• The aim was to strengthen the US and India’s defence industrial base by moving away from the traditional “buyer-seller” dynamic toward a more collaborative approach.

6. Joint defence exercises:

• Joint military exercises with the U.S. have expanded, both in scale and complexity over the years.
• Ex Yudhabhayas and Ex Vajra Prahar are joint military exercises.
• Ex Cope India is a joint Airforce exercise.
• Ex Malabar is a joint navy exercise which also involves Japan (Australia has been invited for Malabar 2020).
• Tiger Triumph is a bilateral tri-service amphibious military exercise involving the armed forces of India and the United States. It is the first tri-service military exercise between the two countries.
• India has previously only held tri-service exercises with Russia.

7. Foundational agreements:

• The General Security Of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), relating to the security of each other’s military information was signed in 2002.
• In 2016, Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) relating to the exchange of logistics support had been concluded, followed by Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) in 2018 permitting encryption standards of communication systems.
• The recent signing of the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) providing for the sharing of geospatial data is the last of the foundational agreements.

8. Cooperation in multilateral forums:

• India and the US are part of the Quad grouping along with Australia and Japan.
• India has been invited for the first time to attend the Five Eyes (a signals intelligence grouping set up in 1941 consisting of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the U.S.) meeting.
• The U.S. has aided India’s entry into export control regimes (Australia Group, Missile Technology Control Regime and Wassenaar Arrangement).

Way forward:

• The defence ties between the two countries have come of age.
• Even though there continues to be a certain divergence of interests in some areas, there seem to be higher potential benefits of cooperation and collaboration between the two countries.
• Working together would require mutual respect and trust while accepting differences.
• The policy debate in India should not get driven by ideologies but by India’s immediate as well as long term national interest. The policy objective has to enhance India’s strategic space and capability.